Defending champion Lyca Kovai Kings reached the summit clash of the seventh edition of the TNPL final with a 30-run win over Dindigul Dragons in the first qualifier here at the Salem Cricket Foundation Ground on Friday.
Put into bat, Kovai Kings posted a formidable 193 for seven, riding on a superb half-century from B. Sachin (70, 46b, 7x4, 2x6). It was the young left-hander’s second consecutive fifty. In reply, the Dragons’ chase never got going and it lost half its side by the tenth over with only 58 on the board.
Just when it looked like it was curtains for the Dragons, Impact Player C. Sarath Kumar (62, 26b, 1x4, 8x6) put on a brilliant display of power-hitting, racing to his half-century in just 18 balls as he dispatched the Kovai Kings spinners outside the park with disdain. However, Sarath was left to do too much and a brilliant 19th over from Gowtham Thamarai Kannan sealed the game for Kovai Kings.
Earlier, the 19-year-old Sachin showed his class with a hat-trick of boundaries off pacer G. Kishoor in the sixth over. He started by guiding one through point before a cracking cover-drive and then cut one over slip as Kovai Kings finished the PowerPlay strongly with 57 for two.
Sachin got a reprieve when he was on 17 when Subodh Bhati dropped a sitter off Kishoor at square leg, and the youngster made Dragons pay the price for the folly as he stitched an 82-run stand with U. Mukilesh (44) for the third wicket.
The scores: Lyca Kovai Kings 193/7 in 20 overs (J. Suresh Kumar 26, B. Sachin 70, U. Mukilesh 44, Subodh Bhati 4/37) bt Dindigul Dragons 163/9 in 20 overs (M. Boopathi Vaishnav Kumar 25, C. Sarath Kumar 62, K. Gowtham Thamarai Kannan 2/33, M. Mohammed 3/26, V. Yudheeswaran 2/15).
